Cherish Family Doc for Longevity, Good Health - Acharya

Mangalore, Oct 30: "Through practising the family doctor concept, one can enjoy longevity and healthy life", said Dr V S Acharya, minister for higher education.

He was delivering a lecture on ‘Health for all’ at the inaugural function of ‘IMA Medicon-2010, a two-day annual conference of the Karnataka State Branch of Indian Medical Association held at Dr TMA Pai International Convention Centre here on Saturday, October 30.

He inaugurated the scientific session organized on the occasion. This is the 76th annual conference organized by IMA.

Acharya further said that right from the ancient days patients have retained more level of confidence on their family doctors. Hence there is every need for refurbishing the ‘family doctor concept’. Adding to that he stressed to take care about behavioural disorders which have emerged to be one of the dangerous ailments in the modern days of busy life.

He called upon people to take care of preventive measures of any of the diseases and maintain the nutritional aspects. He pointed out that modern doctors have more challenges as the primary health centres in rural areas are yet to gain superiority at the grass root level. He called upon all the doctors to make sure that the community is happy and healthy.Daijiworld/

Mangalorean:Pointing to the trend where the top half of MBBS graduates opted for post-graduation and super-specialisation courses, he said less-qualified graduates were filling the role of the family physician. “Family physicians play a vital role in the health delivery system. We need to attract good doctors to play this role as well,” he said.Dr. Acharya said MBBS graduates should be given the option of getting trained for three years as family physicians. Such candidates should be given MD certificate at the end of such extended training. The IMA used to offer a family physicians' course and popularised the concept of MD degree for family physicians. However, medical colleges did not want to give up one PG seat allocated for general medicine to accommodate an MD course for family physicians, Dr. Acharya said

People have poor access to mental health care: Experts

BANGALORE: Access to mental health treatment is a serious issue. Almost 90% of people in rural and 50% in urban areas are deprived of the same, experts have said at a psychosocial meeting here on Thursday.
Inaugurating the 10th world congress of World Association of Psychosocial Rehabilitation (WAPR), home minister V S Acharya said: "Almost 20 million people suffer from mental illness. They find it difficult to fight for their rights because of the stigma attached with it.''
The minister had a solution to this: "Shortage of medical facilities and staff in villages to treat mental illness can be addressed by conducting a three-month course in mental health for general medical practitioners in rural areas. In north Karnataka, the Government Medical hospital will soon be made autonomous for treating mental illness.''
On the occasion, NIMHANS, Director, D Nagaraja, said: "Two per cent of population suffer from severe mental disorder. Unfortunately, even today the treatment gap is 50% in urban area and 90% in rural area. Government had sanctioned Rs 120 cr in the past budget and in present financial budget Rs 1000 cr is sanctioned but is not unable to increase the accessibility for treatment."
President, WAPR International, Dr Michael Madianos, said: "In more than 68 countries, 78% of the population have access to less than one psychiatrist. In South Asian and African countries, 89% of the population have less than one psychiatrist for one lakh population."
Psycho Social Rehabilitation, WHO 2002 report shows, globally, 154 million are affected with schizophrenia, 91 million by alchololism, 16 million by drugs, 25 to 50 million by Alzheimer and epilepsy and significant number of them suffer from depression and thousands of individuals commit suicide and majority of those who commit suicide are from developed countries. (TOI)

Workshop on Cervical Cancer Prevention

Workshop on cervical cancer prevention conducted by conducted by Dept of Obstetrics and Gynecology (OBG),Dept of Radiotherapy and Oncology, of Kasturba Hospital, Manipal and Manipal branch of FOGSI and Lions Club of Manipal.

Kasturba Hospital, Manipal is the first hospital in Karnataka to start a social initiative on awareness of cervical cancer and in a few years this part of Karnataka, in all probability will become free of the disease, said home minister V S Acharya. He was speaking as the chief guest in an awareness meet on cervical cancer on Saturday conducted by the department of obstetrics and gynecology (OBG), dept of radiotherapy and oncology, Kasturba Hospital, Manipal and Manipal branch of FOGSI (Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecological Societies of India) and Lions Club, Manipal. He added that Udupi has the lowest infant mortality of six in 1,000 which is one among the best in the world. Dr Pratap Kumar, professor and head of the department of OBG emphasized that cervical cancer is the most common cancers that affect women's reproductive organs. It is the leading cause of death in women in India. About 500,000 women worldwide die of cervical cancer annually. India alone contributes to 100,000 cases annually. Most of cervical cancers can be completely prevented by simple tests. It is the easiest cancer to be prevented by simple screening measures. Half of the cases occur in women between the ages of 35 and 55, thanks largely to the pap test, which has decreased the death rate from greatly over the last 40 years. Dr Vidya Sagar, professor and head of department of radiotherapy and oncology said that pap smear services are free for rural women which is being funded by his department. Raviraj Bhandary, president of Lions Club highlighted the services to the community undertaken by the departments of OBG and radiotherapy and oncology in promoting pap smear. (TOI) (The Hindu)

Udupi district tops State in social infrastructure